Don't you just love it...

..when the late fall/early winter nights finally get cold enough for you to turn the furnace on for the first time?
The smell of burnt dust and fur... and the sound of the dumbest cat of the group complaining because he's already forgot what the furnace is.

Sherman's my slow cat. He's sweet, cute, but not that bright. Right now he's squawking about the smell and new noise and the other cats are looking at him like he's lost his mind.
Sadly he'll get over this before that awful smell goes away. I really dread turning the furnace on for the first time each year.

I can imagine the sound Sherman is making MrrrrrRrHhRrHh

We have had our wood stove going since October. I hate our oil furnace with a passion it makes the air so dry that I wake up in the middle of the night because my throat feels tight. I love the wood stove though...I can pick out certain pieces of wood that I know are going to make the house smell good.

Our furnace has been on for a bit now but I hate it. I sleep with my window cracked in the winter and the register covered.

That could be why my sinuses are always acting up .

Originally Posted by c1atsite

I can imagine the sound Sherman is making MrrrrrRrHhRrHh

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You'd be wrong. When I said squawking that's really what I meant. He sounded somewhere between his normal chirpy noise and an angry chicken.
I'm mostly amused that even the kittens were fine but Sherman was the one bothered. They're supposed to be the skittish ones. He on the other hand is coming up on his third winter with me and before that, before he was abandoned, he was a house cat.

The smell finally went away, but not before it made me cough and a bit nauseous. I can only assume I got nauseous easily because I recently had some food poisoning and my stomach still isn't 100%.

We do have a fire place, but we haven't used it yet. I suppose we should sometime. For the most part it and the small gas wall heater in the bathroom are backups for when the power goes out.
The only problem with the fireplace is that it's on one side of the house and the bedrooms are on the other.

Ah, the smell of the furnace being turned on after a 6 month hiatus.
After the kitties get used to it, they start fighting over who gets to lay on the heat registers.

We also have a wood stove. Haven't used the furnace yet and we are in the northeast.

It has a blower and this is what I do to make it even cozier: I take a small terra cotta saucer, drill a small hole with my small hole driller along the edge.
Run a piece of craft wire through and make a small loop. Spray it with this really nice fragrance oil called "hot cinnamon". Hang it from the stove with a heat proof stove magnet right in front of the blower. The house smells delicious shortly after.

Now I have to make one for my daughter!

We have an outside woodburner and it works something like a furnace and I love it. It blows steam heat all through the house.

All I smell when I turn on the heat is my money burning. I hate the high energy costs.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

He sounded somewhere between his normal chirpy noise and an angry chicken.

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Too bad this wasn't captured via video. That would be hilarious.

haha i am glad i am not the only one who experiences the burning dust and fur smell the first time

We heat our house mainly with our wood stove and have electric backup. Some of the cats especially when it finally gets cold (15F and below) lay mighty close and soak up the heat!.

Oh I thought he was doing what I call "cat ventriloquism" - when they make agitated sounds without opening their mouths! Penny did that when I adopted Daisy years ago.

A fireplace is nice and romantic but a lousy way to try and heat your house. Most of the heat goes up the chimney. Then as the fire is going out the open damper allows cold air to get into the house.

An airtight wood burning stove is the best choice. An insert isn't as good but it is better than an open fireplace.

We use about 3 cords every winter, cut on our property. Wood warms you three times: when it is cut, when it is split, when you burn it.

Originally Posted by Catapault

A fireplace is nice and romantic but a lousy way to try and heat your house. Most of the heat goes up the chimney. Then as the fire is going out the open damper allows cold air to get into the house.

An airtight wood burning stove is the best choice. An insert isn't as good but it is better than an open fireplace.

We use about 3 cords every winter, cut on our property. Wood warms you three times: when it is cut, when it is split, when you burn it.

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We cut and split too....yesterday I think I was warmed 40 times! Like your stove and the spiders.

They are fake....aren't they???

They're crickets, and they're made of brass. Crickets are supposed to be good fortune for the house when they're on the hearth.

I had to delete my 9 pictures of Fog and Mist in order to post the stove picture. Wanted to add one of splitting wood with a maul and wedges and it said I was out of space with just the one stove image. Don't understand, as the images are always edited for size, down to 600 pixels by proportionate. What's up that I could have 9 before and now only one? Is there another way to attach images?

Originally Posted by Catapault

I had to delete my 9 pictures of Fog and Mist in order to post the stove picture. Wanted to add one of splitting wood with a maul and wedges and it said I was out of space with just the one stove image. Don't understand, as the images are always edited for size, down to 600 pixels by proportionate. What's up that I could have 9 before and now only one? Is there another way to attach images?

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Most of us use an image hosting site like Photobucket for pictures: How to Post Pictures

No smell is one of the biggest advantages of radiators, but of course we have to do without central air conditioning.

Jamie loves it when the heat's on, and will pester until we turn it on. Then he spends most of the winter on one of his window perches above a radiator.

I've been a member for more than 30 days and have fewer than 100 posts. If I understand the rules correctly, then I shouldn't be able to create any attachments.

So how did I previously attach 9 images of my cats? In fact, even the currant image of our wood burning stove shouldn't be up there.

Images are stored on my computer. Some of them are used professional for my lectures. I also sell usage of images. I have no interest in creating a Photobucket account as it would be just one more thing to keep track of. Guess I'll have to wait to post images here on TCS.

Apologies for any errors in posting images. I'll take the stove image in this thread down.

Originally Posted by Catapault

I've been a member for more than 30 days and have fewer than 100 posts. If I understand the rules correctly, then I shouldn't be able to create any attachments.

So how did I previously attach 9 images of my cats? In fact, even the currant image of our wood burning stove shouldn't be up there.

Images are stored on my computer. Some of them are used professional for my lectures. I also sell usage of images. I have no interest in creating a Photobucket account as it would be just one more thing to keep track of. Guess I'll have to wait to post images here on TCS.

Apologies for any errors in posting images. I'll take the stove image in this thread down.

Click to expand...

IIRC, the number of KB in attachments goes up as you rise through the User Groups, but you can attach pictures once you're past the newbie stage.